To find the total weight of the 12 books, we need to multiply the weight of each book by the number of books:
\[ \text{Weight of one book} = \frac{15}{16} \text{ lb} \] \[ \text{Number of books} = 12 \]
Now, multiply the weight of one book by the number of books:
\[ \text{Total weight} = 12 \times \frac{15}{16} \]
To multiply, first multiply the whole number by the numerator of the fraction:
\[ 12 \times 15 = 180 \]
Now, place that over the denominator:
\[ \text{Total weight} = \frac{180}{16} \]
Next, we simplify the fraction \(\frac{180}{16}\) by finding the greatest common divisor (GCD) of 180 and 16. The GCD is 4.
Now, divide both the numerator and the denominator by their GCD:
\[ \frac{180 \div 4}{16 \div 4} = \frac{45}{4} \]
Now, we can convert \(\frac{45}{4}\) to a mixed number. To do this, we divide 45 by 4:
\[ 45 \div 4 = 11 \quad \text{remainder} , 1 \]
This means:
\[ \frac{45}{4} = 11 \frac{1}{4} \]
Thus, the total shipping weight of the 12 books, excluding the box, is
\[ \boxed{11 \frac{1}{4}} \text{ lb}. \]
6 answers